Thursday, March 26, 2009

Maple Widow

Six o'clock a.m. comes awfully fast doesn't it? Why is it that the best sleep is that half hour before the alarm goes off, when you're conscious of imminent wake up, but couldn't be more comfy cozy and sleepy? That sucks, when the alarm goes off. Jake and Bailey were both up with me this morning. Unusual. Jake usually waits for Jerry, but I guess his needs were early too. Bailey is always with me, so that was normal. They both came outside, did their stuff, and came right back in. I have been training with biscuits, and it is working like a charm. I reward every good behavior with a biscuit. Now when I say "come here" everyone does. They know there is a treat in it for them. We're all motivated by positive reinforcement aren't we? The dogs are no different. It is so nice now to not have to chain up Bailey in his choke collar, as he is now coming on command and staying in the yard. I open the door and out we go. A herd of dogs scrambling to get out first. I would never trust Daphne like that. She does what she wants. Even though the morning is frosted still, things are melting back.
Jerry keeps running down the road to check out Dave's Maple Syrup operation. I think that it has become like the General Store. A bunch of men standing around talking about nothing. They stand around the syrup boiler and chat for hours. About what? I don't know. How much can you discuss maple syrup? But it has become like a daily ritual. The boiler is there in the middle and they are happy just being there and doing what men do. I find that when Jerry is plowing through his chores, the next words out of his mouth will be "would you mind if I ran down the road for a bit?" There is a draw there that I don't understand. We have a gallon of sap at our house, waiting to be boiled. I don't see anyone running over here. What's that about? Is it the boiler? We don't have one. Yet. I was always so glad that I was not a "football widow" because it's just not his thing. He would enjoy those occasional games whenever someone was around who was into it (translate: not me) but for the most part, he could leave it. But now, "maple widow" is becoming a condition that I'm not sure I'm happy about. At least the season is shorter than football. Just as long as the sap is running. Cold nights, warm days. How long can that last? Now I see that I will have to buy a Farmer's Almanac. So I can find out when Jerry will be home.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Guys, hope everything is alright, No blog since Thursday. Possible reasons:

1. The sap lines are down
2. The sap widow is down "again"
3. Jerry fired up the wood chipper

QueenBee said...

Dear Anonymous, Your comments make me laugh! Thanks for noticing our MIA status. It's good to know SOMEONE will have them check the wood chipper. I feel better about that. . .

Anonymous said...

I hear Jerry has a power washer for that wood chipper!